Phoenix Girl
by FinchyBenedict
Summary: Catherine. A girl with a past; a history that she doesn't want to catch up with her, and Xavier: A boy who doesn't need to run from his past, as it runs from him. Their from different worlds but what will happen when each is forced to uncover their deepest, darkest secrets? Who will survive? And what will winning do to them?..
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note: This is my first story and I know I'm not a very good writer, I just wanted other people to get a glimpse of some of the things I see all the time. Please note, this is not a fanfiction, just a story I have wanted to write for a long time, I wasn't sure which catorgory to put this in, so I put it in the catorgory for my favourite book series, it also happens to fit with part of my story, but it will be unclear at the moment. Also note that I will not continue to write this story if I think that nobody wants to read what I write or see what I see. (If you know what I mean)

Chapter 1

This is one of those moments when I really wish that I wasn't me. One of those moments when I wish that I was anywhere but here, in my life right now. I'm in the staff room of Forest Park primary school with some of my fellow teachers. Not all, just some, namely Christopher De Solace, David Roberts, Lucy Thompson and Lauren Timmins and I'm extremely embarrassed right now. Our head teacher, Mr De Solace, started off our break time chat by telling us that his grandson Xavier would be coming up north to see him at the weekend. Everyone in the room said things like: "We hope you both have a lovely time" But then he asked me about my relationship with Tristan. Tristan Blade is my now ex-boyfriend. We broke up because he had an affair, an affair with my sister Jasmine, an affair I found out about. When I found out, I threw him straight out of my life, but Mr De Solace knows this, so I'm unsure why he would have said this unless… The "Unless" is why I'm embarrassed. Everyone else is already laughing, and I don't know how to dig myself out of the hole I made. His next remark confirms my suspicions. "It's settled then Miss Cathy Summers, I will send Xav to your flat on Saturday about Lunchtime." Mr De Solace says calmly, walking out the room slowly as he says it. He leaves me red faced, wondering when I started to look so desperate, when I started being set up on dates with my boss's grandson I guess.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors note: Thank you to StarsGlow and JustAnotherFanGirlingBookworm for reviewing, I really like hearing from readers. Thank you JustAnotherFanGirlingBookworm for also telling me how to put the next chapter up, it wouldn't be here without you (Literally.) And StarsGlow, I hope that this is still going the way you want it to, but sorry if it doesn't. Also, I may not be able to update very soon as I have a very busy few weeks ahead. Sorry in advance. Here is Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It's been three days since Mr De Solace told us all about Xavier, three days of me trying to back out and not being able to. Mr De Solace keeps pulling the guilt trick on me, and I've still got one day to go until Saturday. All I've managed to do is stop myself from meeting Xavier at lunchtime, but at 6pm instead, but I don't see how that's any better personally. If anything, it seems worse, because it seems more like a date than a friendly lunch together. To make myself feel a bit better, I decide to invite my best friend Harriet Ross, (Harry for short) to go shopping with me. And as my fabulous fashionista sister Lily is down south for her courses, Harry is the next best thing for "date night" outfits. The bell for the end of Lunch goes just after I've told her my plans, and she's agreed. I might actually be looking forward to this.

I spoke to soon, Harry is waiting for me in the staff car park at 5pm, and she's talking to Mr De Solace. I walk up to them just as they are drawing their conversation to a close. "So if Cathy and Xav don't tell me about their date, you'll tell me?" I hear Mr De Solace say, smiling. I flash Harry a "What have you done?" Look and then interrupt them before Harry can reply. "If she says anything about my meeting with Xavier, she will end up with several injuries and none of them will be my fault" I say sweetly, towing a laughing Harry, behind me as I leave. I turn and see Mr De Solace grinning at us. I make a "Talk-to-the-hand-'cus-the-face-don't-wanna-know" sign with the hand that wasn't being used to half carry, half drag Harry away. He and I both know actual sign language but we prefer to sign so most people understand, instead of having to explain whatever we sign to everyone who might be around at the time.

When we get to the nearest shopping centre, with me driving Harry's car as she was still having a laughing fit, we get out and head straight to Debenhams. I'd forgotten that Harry's favourite styles were 1950's vintage and bohemian chic, I don't see how I could, but I did. So that meant that we wouldn't be able to agree on many things, clotheswise at least! Usually, for work, I wear plain knee length pleated skirts, thin feminine jumpers and plain kitten heeled shoes, with my long brown hair in a tight bun and no make-up on. Usually for anything that isn't work, I wear printed scarves, blue skinny jeans, plain V-neck t-shirts under loose printed shirts, plain leather jackets and ballerina flat shoes or trainers, with mint eyeliner and mascara on, with my hair tied in a loose high pony tail. So neither of us could agree on anything. We come out with a few bags each. One of mine is holding my new outfit, one that we both settled on. (After hours of arguing) There's a new black leather jacket, black kitten heel shoes and a knee length mint coloured skater dress. One of Harry's is holding an outfit I picked out for her, I chose a long tie dye dress, medium blue jeggings, white strappy sandals and some flower hair clips, to keep her shoulder length, strawberry blonde hair out of her forget-me-not blue eyes. She opens her bag in the car, and her reaction surprises me, she leans over to the passenger seat where I am sitting this time and gives me a hug.

"Oh my god! Cathy, you shouldn't have, but you have brilliant taste, thank you so much" She says ecstatically.

"You are very welcome, my friend" I say mockingly, smiling.

"You are cruel to me" She says, faking hurt. "Come on then, I'll drop you off outside your flat, okay?" She says happily.


	3. Chapter 3

Authors Note:

Hi, sorry that I couldn't update yesterday, just wanted you all to know that you shouldn't try anything after the words "Stunt jump" at home as I do not actually know anything about the subject and you could get hurt. I just put it in there because it will help chapter 3 move in to chapter 4 more easily. Please review, I would like to know if people like the things that I write, also, feel free to give me constructive criticism. I don't' even mind if you just want to tell me that you hate everything about it as long as you give me a reason! Also, if I get 7 reviews, faves, follows or a combined total of 7 reviews, faves or follows, then chapter 4 will come up a little early. I hope you all like this chapter!

Chapter 3

When we get near to my flat, I quietly ask Harry to drop me off a bit further away, it's late, it's dark, and something doesn't seem right. She does as I say, but I can see that she doesn't understand why she has to. It's just a feeling, but I think that we are being watched, I've felt like it all evening, but it seems worse now. I keep telling myself that I'm just being paranoid, but I don't believe it. As I walk up the steps to my flat, I take my mp3 player out of my pocket and put on my favourite "Mr question mark" song; I like to listen to this song whenever I am nervous. Then I use my key fob on the door, and close it tightly behind me. My block of flats has no elevator so I have to use the stairs, but at least I'm only on the third floor. I knew something wasn't right, I knew it. When I get to the third floor, I peep around the corner at my front door. It's open. I never leave my front door unlocked, never mind open. This is a real goldilocks moment, but for some reason, I don't think that the intruder will run away a soon as I growl at them. Not that I would, obviously. I turn off my mp3 player and decide to carefully creep up to the door, hoping to get a glimpse of my intruder. It was one of the stupidest things I've ever done.

Muscular arms come around behind me tightly, one around my waist and the other over my mouth so I can't scream. I try to fight back, throwing my full weight at my attacker, but they laugh as if I weigh no more than a feather. From their crude and cruel laugh, I know who it is.

"Calm down kitten, it's only your very friendly brother-in-law, Hunter" He sneers.

"I've told you time and time again Hunter, it is Cathy or Catherine, not Kitten, Cat or Moggy" I say gruffly, through his fingers. I hate being held captive.

"Right you are, Kitten, but I suggest you lose the attitude, or this particular cat will be sleeping with the fishes, got it?" I nod meekly. "That's better. Now, I'm going to let you go sit on the sofa, if you promise not to scream or try to get away, I just want to talk to you about Tristan" He says threateningly, he reveals a crowbar hidden just behind the door and lets me go. I do as he says; I know how good he is at using crowbars.

"So what would you like to know about Tristan?" I ask politely.

"I would like to know why your boyfriend decided to make himself at home with Jaz in my bed" He says, strangely calm. "And I want the truth" He adds as an afterthought.

"He said that he left me, because I wasn't pretty enough, that I never made any effort for him, and because I wouldn't give him what he wanted" I say quietly, almost in tears. Having to admit to yourself that you weren't pretty enough for your own boyfriend was bad enough, but telling the boyfriend of the person he replaced you with, that's harsh. Hunter just about explodes at me and I get out of the way of an incoming vase in the nick of time.

"You little lying rat, that's not what he told me, he told me that he caught you with a friend who had forgotten their clothes, shall we say. He said that you cheated on him, so he went to Jaz, and made a move on her, a move that was really just a big misunderstanding." He says, getting louder with every word he says. In the time it took for him to say all this, he had also managed to grab the crowbar. He starts to aim the crowbar at me, he takes a swipe, catching my arm so that I hear a tearing sound.

I don't feel any pain, but I think it's because I'm in shock. I run to the balcony, knowing that the only way to stand a chance at surviving the night is to get away from him rapidly. I'm quite lucky, at least in the sense that, because I dabble in other… Subjects unnoticeably, I pick up a few skills that other people may not have and probably don't know about. This means I am able to "Stunt jump." I weave between the flower pots placed haphazardly on the floor of the balcony. Turning my back to the rail, I jump up, balancing perfectly on the edge without removing my eyes from a now, very peeved Hunter. "Hunter, if you come any closer to me, I go over" I say confidently to him.

"That would be a wish come true" He says, smirking.

"Okay then" I say, aware of the blood steadily spilling and dripping down my arm. I take a deep breath and summersault backwards, spinning around so that I'm ready to sprint before I hit the ground, completely unharmed.


	4. Chapter 4

Authors note:

It's just a short chapter today, sorry for the wait, I hope you enjoy it, Would you like to hear the next chapter from a different characters point of view? Please fave, review or follow :-)

Chapter 4:

"But someone else might" I hear him say, confused, I turn to look back up at him, he is standing out on the balcony, and he has a familiar person, tied up and gagged in his arms. "Lily" I shout. Out of all my family, my 19 year old little sister is the one who I care for the most. She wasn't supposed to be coming up north to see me until Sunday. "Don't hurt her, please, bring her down safely, and you can have me, I won't even move a step further away" I shout.

"I know you won't move anymore, because you'll do anything for this little brat" He answers, turning himself away from me. A few minutes later, he reappears; he has come down all the stairs and is carrying a slightly limp Lily in his arms. He throws her down roughly on the floor between us and I instantly move so that Lily is behind me, where he can't get to her. "What are you doing here Lil?" I ask her gently, anticipating any move that Hunter could make.

"I wanted to surprise you, but he came out of nowhere" she says, crying. I help her to untie the gag, unbound her ankles, and untie her wrists. She is bleeding from a cut on her temple. As soon as she is free, Hunter picks me up, again, like I am no heavier than a feather, and throwing me over his shoulder, takes me towards the alleyways between the blocks of flats. Lily looks panic-stricken, she gets up, probably hoping to stop him hurting me anymore, but I tell her to stop and fetch help instead. She grudgingly agrees while Hunter laughs. After about 5 minutes of Hunter walking, and me bouncing uncomfortably on his shoulder, he sets me down behind a skip in an alleyway near the blocks of flats. "I'm going to give you another chance to tell me the truth, because I'm nice like that" He says, holding me by my ponytail, with has his other fist poised at my face…


	5. Chapter 5

Authors note: I'm sorry that it took so long to update, so as an apology, I have done an extra long update. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 5

Xavier's point of view:

I decide to take the train to grandad's, instead of my 1961, cobalt-blue Velocette Venom motorbike, although I'm still wearing my customary riding gear, a black leather jacket, dark blue jeans, and Harley Davidson boots. Whenever I come to a new area, even if I've been to it before, I always go around on a late night tour. I don't specifically know why, but I think that part of it is because when you go around at night, nobody expects to be observed, so you get a better sense of what people in the area are really like.

The only thing I have bought with me, excluding my phone, keys, wallet and weekend bag, is my guitar. My full size, steel string, cherry wood acoustic guitar is one of my most precious possessions, it is one of the only things that connect me to a person I can only ever be in secret, a person who I wish I could be all the time. The other more obvious thing that connects me to "The other me" is a small collection of musical notes tattooed on my right hand and wrist. They connect me to the "Other me" because when the "Other me" creates his acoustic music videos and uploads them on to YouTube, they are the only things he has visible. They are the only things that make him and me different to other anonymous musicians. They are the only obvious things that people can use to remember him.

I phone my grandad, to tell him that everything seems fine and that I'm going to stay in the hotel near to several blocks of flats, but just as am about to end the call, a panicked young woman practically runs me over, without a vehicle. "Hi, err, what are you running from?" I ask her calmly, after I have steadied her. "I can't say, but we need help now, please" She says, biting her bottom lip, in the light of a nearby street lamp, I can see her short, ash blonde, matted hair, her smudged make up, torn clothes, grazes, and tear stained face. After taking all her details in, and deciding that she doesn't seem to be a threat to me, I ask her to "Take me to the trouble" She smiles wanly. I know that I haven't ended the call to grandad yet. "Grandad, slight change of plans, I'll tell you all about it tomorrow, when I come and see you, okay, bye." I say to him.

She, the girl, leads me between some flats, into a passageway, and behind a four-wheeled wheelie bin, it hides the entrance to another passageway. She pauses only once to tell me that I shouldn't say anything around here, or I'd be knifed. I thank her; silently, but privately wonder what the hell I've gotten myself into.

I hear a whimper, it's not loud and it's not intended. But it's female and instantly followed by a smacking sound, and then a harsh male voice stage whispering "Shut up, you stupid little b****" The girl takes a deep breath and turns into the corner, beckoning for me to wait for her signal. The girl's appearance is immediately accompanied by the female voice. "Lily, I told you to go and fetch help, not come back and get us both killed" I make a mental note of the fact that the voice seems closer. The girl, who I now know is called Lily, makes a "Come hither" gesture with the only visible part of her body, her little finger.

I reveal myself and can see that both girls have been backed into a corner by a middle-aged, blonde-haired, evil-eyed man, Lily is behind the other girl, but she doesn't seem willing to stay there. I thought that Lily looked like she was in trouble, but the other girl is clearly in worse shape. One of the many differences between the girls is that while Lily has tears streaming down her face, the other girl has blood dribbling down her arm. Although, she doesn't seem very worried by it. Soundlessly, I curse myself. At a time like this, I can't help noticing that the girl whose name I don't know, is not only pretty, but she's gorgeous, she's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my 23 years of living. She reminds me of a dandelion flower, a weed to some people. But a beautiful, brave and determined creation, to others. Determined to live and bloom, brave to do it even when others go out of their way to prevent them.

Forcing myself, I wake up and out of my daydream, this was not a time, nor a place to be thinking about how beautiful a girl who I don't even know is, especially if I should be rescuing her. Confidently, I walk over to the man. "Excuse me sir, but what might you be doing?" I ask, after tapping him gently on the shoulder and in my best Londoner accent. I'm not actually from London, but it is one of the many places that I have lived in. I have edged myself between the girls and him, discretely, I make an "It's okay, go" gesture with my hand at the girls, angling myself so that he can't see what I'm doing. My plan to distract him doesn't work, he tries to slip around me so he can hurt the girls further, aiming his fist at me when I foil his plan. I dodge his punch. "What are you, stupid or somethin'" He sneers.

It took me a long time to learn to conceal my anger and I still have trouble now. I change the position of my body, making myself a more imposing figure by stretching to my full height and folding my leather-covered arms over my chest. He flinches and tries to cover it up with a shiver from the "cold, summer air."

"What are you, a really, really big, brave man, picking on two unarmed girls, who are what, half your age?" I say part of this in a baby voice and the other part in my normal, slightly threatening voice. I make him angry with my remark so he punches me in the nose, I don't even flinch. I don't like being hit, so instead of letting him slink around me, I punch him and then grab him by the neckline of his t-shirt, lifting him up as I do so, as I'm also quite a bit taller than him, it's even easier to do. "Listen here, Buddy, I don't like it when gutless little boys like you deface the name of "men", so if I see you around again, then I'm going to hurt you so badly that you will wish you had died tonight, at the hand or foot of a girl." I let him go, and he runs as fast as his short, stout lumps of legs will carry him. I turn around in time to see the girl whose name I don't know, fall to the floor. Immediately, she goes unconscious, so I do my best to help her lie comfortably, this means putting her in the recovery position and monitoring her breathing. Lily uses my mobile to call an ambulance.

I decide to stay with Lily and her sister (Lily told me they were sisters) in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, although, judging solely from the fact that the other girl still wasn't waking up, I realise that I might be there all night, so I phone my grandad, to tell him that I wouldn't be able to meet up with his colleague tomorrow. He wasn't happy, but said he'd come straight to the hospital after phoning a girl called Cathy to tell her that I couldn't make it.


	6. Chapter 6

Authors note: This is just a short update, especially for two time reviewer StarsGlow, I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 6

Cathy's Point of view (Again)

I wake up to the smell of strong disinfectant, the kind they used to have everywhere, back when I was still training to be both an addictions therapist and an emergency nurse. It's sickening. It's easy to understand why so many people hate hospitals. When I open my eyes, I can see that I'm in a hospital bed, a hospital bed that I don't want to stay in. I carefully get out, and while staggering into the first corridor I see, I try to remember the last thing that happened to me. I start to trip over and am caught by one of the people that I was least expecting to see. "Hi dad" I say chirpily, he looks at me vacantly. "Who are you?" He asks politely, completely unlike the dad I know. My smile vanishes, his question confuses me, surely; I'm not ill enough to think a total stranger is my own dad? The man sees me frowning at myself and benevolently, helps me to a seat at a table in the canteen. He goes to a desk at the reception, possibly to find out who I am, where I came from and where I should be now. He comes back, looking completely bewildered. "Cathy?" He says my name like it's a question. "Yes" I answer, still confused. The man leans over and gives me a quick hug, I jolt backwards and I think that he realises his mistake, I'm not a "Touchy feely" kind of person. "What's going on?" I ask, biting my bottom lip. I have to force myself to stay in the seat, when really; I want to run eight miles away from him.


	7. Chapter 7

Authors Note: Hello, this is my next chapter, thank you so much StarsGlow, JustAnotherFangirlingBookworm and my anonymous reviewer for, well, reviewing! Please Fave, follow, review or just read it and enjoy it. Anyway, here's the chapter hope you like it. :-)

Chapter 7

"I'm sorry Cathy; I've confused you, haven't I?" I don't reply, just lean further back into my chair. He continues. "You know, I didn't think it had been so long since I last saw you, that I had forgotten what my own niece looked like" He says ruefully, running his fingers through his greying hair. "Uncle Jack?" I ask anxiously. His customary grin appears. "I thought you were in Sydney for the next year because of your business" I stutter, my false confidence restored. "Cathy, do you realise how unwell you were? Because I got a phone call yesterday, from the hospital, do you know what that means?" His eyes start to water when he talks; he falls into the seat opposite me at the table. "Uncle, I don't understand" By now, his eyes have filled up and started to dribble saltwater. "Cathy, the phone call, it was, they were." He takes a deep breath. "Cathy, they said that I would never be able to see you again unless I came, they said, they said that you were going to die and you had an extremely high chance of not surviving the night" He is crying freely. I suddenly stop everything except breathing, my mouth hanging open. "They said I, I would die?" I ask carefully. He nods, causing an avalanche of tears to fall from his chin. I use the table to support me as I walk around to the other side and I give him the biggest hug that I can manage gently rubbing circles in the middle of his back.

When I think he's began to feel better, I straighten my back once more. "Uncle, one more thing" I start, I have to be careful what I say, as any mention of my mum, or Lily could set him off. He knows what I made happen to me, and why I did it. And, while he accepted that I did my best to do the right thing, he has never approved. "What is it?" He queries, I right in thinking that he felt better. "Where's Lily?" I mumble. "Cathy, you don't have to be afraid to mention her name anymore, you know. In any case, she's there, talking to that young man at the table." He says calmly, I sit back down in my seat and I follow his gaze and see a familiar face, I'm also glad to see that Lily doesn't even have a scratch on her. I wave apprehensively and I can see the young man turning around to look behind him. I hide my slight genuine smile behind a curtain of my waist length brown hair and look away speedily. He was looking at me as if he recognised me. I suddenly remember that I'm with company and I turn around myself to see that Uncle Jack has an amused and happy look on his face, "What?" I ask, blushing.


	8. Chapter 8

Authors Note: This is a slightly longer chapter, I hope you enjoy it, please fave, follow, read and review!

Chapter 8

Xavier's point of view

I can't believe it! I came into the hospital canteen today with grandad and I saw the girls from last night! Lily came over to our table in the canteen and she started to talk to us about how well her sister was doing. I did note that Lily was being stingy with basic details about her sister though; things like her name, address and her age were kept from us. Later, I noticed her sister peeking at us, she was looking like she recognised me as well. She even waved at us. At first, I was super confused. When we met yesterday night, she was only semi-conscious and didn't speak to me, though through no fault of her own. I was so confused that I even looked behind me, thinking she was waving at someone else, this reaction caused her to also start blushing and before I had time to put the coffee I'd been drinking and spilling over myself down, she'd looked away. Lily noticed that something was going on then.

"Come on, I'll take you to meet her" Lily says conspiringly, stalking off. My mind still on her sister, the only word I can manage is "Uhh?" and I follow both Lily and my grandad, who has a weird grin on his face, over to the other girl. "Hi Cathy, this is the boy that we met last night, I thought that you and him might want to meet each other?" She smiles and I cotton on to what she's hinting at, I bury my head in my hands in embarrassment but then someone slams themselves into me. "What do you think you're doing, eh, eh? You think I don't know what you did to my nieces yesterday?" I have lifted my face and been pushed against a wall by a tall, tanned, and angry man. I remember seeing him when I was trying to wave back at "Cathy" so I try to conceal my anger at being attacked. "Uncle Jack, stop, please" A small voice calls out, it's so small that he doesn't even hear her properly, just turns and tells her to shut up while shaking his fist. Misreading his intentions, I side step between them again, keeping my eyes on my attacker. In a louder voice, loud enough for my attacker to hear this time, the girl calls "Jack, I said stop, he didn't do anything bad last night, he did the opposite, he saved my life!"


	9. Chapter 9

Authors note: Hello, sorry for the late chapter, I'm going to try to publish weekly now, also, this is just a filler chapter, hope you enjoy it

Chapter 9

Xavier's Point of view

"Jack" looks shocked but my grandad is just laughing, neither I nor Lily knows why. "He saved you?" Jack says quietly, as if he can't quite believe that I, a completely harmless guy in black leather, saved the lives of his nieces. I would be offended if it didn't happen so often, and if I didn't want it to happen, that is. Trying to be nice, as I guess it was an easy mistake to make, I smile and offer Jack my hand. "I'm Xavier De Solace, he's my grandad Chris De Solace, nice to meet you too" I say positively, but I can't help adding a speck of sarcasm with the latter part of my sentence after pointing at my grandad to introduce him. Jack frowns at me, and then breaks into a grin that fills up his whole friendly, embarrassed face. I notice that Cathy looks like she just swallowed a drop of delicious poison and grandad is laughing more than a hyena. "I'm so sorry about that, mate" Jack says to me with a heavily Australian accent, which I don't really notice because of my bamboozlement.

Cathy's point of view:

How can this be real? I don't even know what the chances of that happening were! How likely was it that I was saved by the grandson of my boss, on the night before we were supposed to go on a date, before we'd met or even seen pictures of each other? Mr De Solace was laughing so hard, that a nurse on her break came and asked if he was okay! He looked like he'd never seen anything anywhere near this funny, and Xavier still doesn't know what's happened. "What's going on, please tell me" I hear Xavier say to his grandad, a slight whine in his voice. Even I can see that there's no way Mr De Solace will be able to explain without talking in gobbledegook. "Should I explain, Xavier?" I ask, nervously, I can only imagine the look on my face. He nods, also nervously. "Well, perhaps I should start with my name, it's Catherine Summers. Cathy for short. Anyway, I work with your grandad and I'm a teacher" His eyes widen; I swear I could hear the cogs in his brain moving as who I am finally dawns on him. "as in the girl who I was supposed to be going on a blind date with tonight?" I nod, flushing; did he really have to say that in front of my uncle?


	10. Chapter 10

Hi guys, sorry it took so long to update, I know it's not much of an excuse but I've had so many assessments to prepare for, that you'd think that they were all I did! Anyway, heres chapter 10 and 11 hope you like them. Please follow and fave!

Chapter 10

Cathy's point of view

When we finally decide to come out of the hospital canteen, only Lily, Xavier and Mr De Solace are keeping up the conversation. With me occasionally contributing; but not often. Uncle Jack hasn't said anything, and he's wearing a semi-permanent frown. He's the one who finally takes me back to where I should be, in my horrible hospital bed. "Cathy, I've been thinking, and I know, I know you're not going to like it, just please just hear me out" Now it's just the two of us and it seems to be really awkward, I don't like the way he's asking, he's making it seem as though I don't have a choice in the matter. "I'm not going to make any promises, if I don't like what you have to say, I'm not going to agree to anything, but I'll allow you to speak about what's on your mind, if that's good enough" He frowns, sees me looking, and smiles gratefully, but it seems a bit forced.

"Well, erm, I was thinking that maybe, as England is always really dangerous for you, that you should perhaps, when I go back to work that is, that you should-" My uncle is cowering under his hands that he has folded above his head, as if I might suddenly freak out and throw something at him, I keep my face unreadable. "So let me get this straight, you want me to abandon my life here, to leave everything I have worked really hard to get, to leave the rest of my family, to go to Australia with you, simply because I was… In a mugging gone wrong? What about Lily, eh? It could have easily been her in this hospital bed and if I'm not here, who's going to protect her, who's to stop this happening to her?" My face may be unreadable, but my voice is getting louder, so loud in fact that I notice that the rest of the ward has gone silent. "Yes" he says quietly, keeping his head down. I bite back my temper with great difficulty, and speak in an equally quiet voice; the rest of the room is still silent. "I have listened to what you had to say, uncle, but I really don't want to go, I can't afford to go, if nothing else, I've got my work-"

"Everything okay here?" Xavier has popped his head around the curtain surrounding my bed, however, before I have a chance to reply, an engraved dragon silver knife had cut through the air towards me from the opposite direction that Xavier was in. It hit the wall 2cm above my head. My breathing is heavy for obvious reasons. "Hello mum" I say exasperatedly.


	11. Chapter 11

Hi guys this is chapter 11, hope you like it. Please follow and/or fave!

Chapter 11

Mum comes in in a waft of feathers, scarves, grimaces and perfume. She is accompanied by two security guards, a growling pug puppy and a junior doctor waving a clipboard, the pages flapping about in the rush. "Madam, you can't come in here with that dog, this is a place for sick people-" The junior doctor gushed, only to be cut off by my mother's voice. Fifty something year old women didn't usually march inside a hospital with a puppy followed closely by two security guards who hadn't been able to stop her coming in. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realise that when a hospital called to say your daughter was desperately ill, it meant really she was fine and nowhere near as dead as I was lead to believe. Such a shame if you ask me." All three members of staff freeze while I come over and try to lead her away, to the chair next to my bed.

"Get off me you horrible little undead cow!"

"What are you doing here mum?" I query, admittedly, in a small voice, even for me. Xavier is looks very awkward as he moves silently through the curtain and disappears.

"Well, I'm glad you asked really, that lovely man on the phone said that I ought to come into the hospital today. He said that my middle daughter, sadly, being you of course, was very almost dead. So I came over to here from my expensive holiday in Greece only to find that you are very much alive and not dead" People walking by stare as she recites this to me, some giving sympathetic smiles, some others giving disapproving shakes of their heads; none of which mum sees but they all keep walking past somewhat more hurriedly. "Sorry mum" I murmur, knowing this is the answer she is expecting and knows she will get. Her hand moves to caress my face with the smoothness of a knife blade and the slyness of a fox. "It's quite alright darling, just make sure it doesn't happen again, by that I mean, make sure you are properly dead before they phone me to tell me your 'almost' dead. Got it?" I nod, not trusting myself to speak yet. "Good" She says as she leaves the way she came, in a flutter of loud excitement, perfume, feathers and exotic print scarves.

I have finally caught my breath back, when I see Xavier pop his head back to see me, visible in his hand is the neck of a guitar. "Is everything okay?" He says with the tone of someone who has heard all the excuses he knows are about to come out of my mouth before. "Fine" I reply. "Just fine" I know he's not pleased with my response but at the moment, I just couldn't care less. He doesn't take the hint about me wanting to be left alone with my depressing thoughts, but asks if I would mind company and sits down in the little fold up chair my mum vacated not so long ago before I've answered.


	12. Chapter 12

Authors note: Shout out to StarsGlow for always reviewing, other than that, I'm sorry for any details that aren't right becuase I don't acctually know anything about the things I write about. Please read, review and fave. Hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 12

His guitar is in his right hand and for a moment, I see a flash of someone else sitting there just like that, I decide to shrug it off as a part of my hyper-active imagination. "Lots of people sit in chairs Cathy" I tell myself under my breath. The air in the room was so tight, it was like knowing there was a bomb near you, but not knowing where it was or when it would go off. The silence was immensely cold too; I could almost see the icicles between Xavier and me. His fingers restless, I only assume that he couldn't bear not at least picking out the chords of a song on his guitar. The same image revealed itself before my eyes. A dark room, one dim spotlight, a figure masked in shadows and an impossible name. Once again, I ignore it. Seeing me watching, his fingers move faster along the frets of the guitar, speedily striking the notes in the shape of a melody I knew, locked in action and smiling from the sheer joy of it; the words materialise on my lips. It can't be a coincidence. Can it?

The choice of song, the familiar sitting position, the marks along his right hand and wrist… I know it's probably just nothing important, or just a coincidence, or there's some mysterious logical explanation for it, but I have to check.

I clap excitedly, I mean, even if I'm not right, he was still really good at playing. "Oh my gosh, where did you learn to do that! That was amazing! I'm telling you." I say while still clapping. Shaking his head modestly, he murmurs quietly that it was nothing, but I know different and then I see an ideal chance when he moves slightly to recline in his chair. "Oh" I say suddenly, he bolts upright and I see that the marks on his hand and wrist are actually a small collection of black tattooed musical notes, the same ones from the video of payphone by Mr Question Mark, aka my favourite musician. Absent minded, I mutter that it was nothing and that I just thought I saw a ginormous spider. Then I decide to chance it outright. "Why didn't you tell me that you were actually Mr Question Mark?"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

He puts his guitar down to lean against the cupboard next to my bed suddenly with the agility of a viper. Whispering in my ear a very quiet: "What did you say?" he didn't do it menacingly, but it was enough to make me gulp and drawback very, very I repeat slightly. What did this guy say he worked as anyway, you'd think he was a sniper the way he changed so easily? And just when I think he couldn't have another persona, he gets one, from what I assume is my lack of response. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you panic, well I did but it wasn't supposed to work, or was it? Just ignore me; I'm not usually this bad at listening to myself and getting the right words out in the right order." Although I think that I can detect the thread of a lie, I don't try to unravel it, perhaps because I don't think that this guy would hurt me in any of his personalities, I mean if he was, he would've left me with Hunter to die in a puddle of my own ruby red blood. And he wouldn't be so stuttery when he thought he'd made me panic, would he. In a relatively short lasting fit of bravery, I speak to him at last. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have made an accusation like that, and you also didn't make me panic either. I was just momentarily distracted and I didn't expect my thoughts to escape" He looks at me like I'm as crazy as a goldfish trying to climb a tree.

"But something must have made you think that I was Mr Question Mark, surely, I can know what it is?" He plonks himself down heavily onto the chair, but he hasn't reacted in any of the ways I thought most people would have if they accused of being a mega famous mystery man who hides his identity so well, even police and private investigators don't know who he is. A: Some people would have played along with the joke (or at least the joke they thought was a joke). B: Others would just laugh. Or C: be like "What are you on? Seriously, me, Mr Question Mark? I don't think so!" But they definitely wouldn't ask me why with the movements of someone who was trying to hide something, and a shifty look on their face. I decide to tell him the truth, I mean how much harm could doing it do? However, before I can answer, he has gently taken my hand and lead me outside saying that we needed to be careful where we talked. The feeling in my stomach about me being right about him being the great Mystery Man was growing stronger.

"So, why did you think that I was Mr Question Mark" Says Xavier again calmly, as if to prompt me. "Well, er, I'm a little fan of his, and I saw that you had the same tattoos as him when I saw that ginormous spider-"

"The non-existent one?" He interrupts, smiling.

"Maybe, anyway, and you seemed to sit the same way in the chair with the same basic features on your guitars showing, and also, the obvious point where you both play the guitar, and finally how you seem to have the same kind of silhouette as him, I know it's complete and utter rubbish circumstantial proof, so again I'm sorry" I say all this, huffing when he interrupts.

He starts to clap. "Well, consider yourself perhaps the smartest person on the planet right now- not even my mum and grandad know who I am! You are officially the 1st and only person to ever know. Especially within days of meeting me, but know that you also can't tell a living soul either! I gasp but then realise that the news was something I guess I knew I had to keep to myself. "So what now?"

"You mean what do you do now you have some very important information that nobody else can know?" Xavier says quizzically. I nod.

"Well Cathy, I can call you Cathy can't I, anyway, I think the first thing we should do is go back inside, and then you should probably get some rest before we talk again. OK?"

I let him lead me back inside to my horrible hospital bed. "Oh and, you can call me Cathy if your still around when I wake up, Deal?" He nods with a minute smile, a genuine one.


	14. Chapter 14

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Chapter 14

True to his word, Xavier is still near my bed when I wake up, though I don't think it would seem obvious if people were to look to see if anything was going on. When they look, they would see a tall- maybe 6ft 4inch – distracted, dark haired, leather clad guy, casually picking up a paperback book and reading it. But when I look, I see what they would see with a twist. I see a very tall guy who has his feet and body (not including his arms or hands) in the stance of a lightweight boxer, he is dressed in a way that makes him protected and "cool-looking" but not unforgettable, he picks up the kind of paperback that someone would expect him to pick up, and whenever someone walk past or he feels them looking this way for too long; he brings his head up and laughs convincingly while assessing how much of a threat they seem. Other people would see a distracted and forgettable guy; I see someone who is more than capable of putting you into a coma and making it look like the goldfish in the fish tank did it.

He notices me watching- well, staring really, and smiles. "Welcome back to the land of the living!" He says but whether it was excitedly or sarcastically, I don't know. "Hi" I say back, not even trying to pretend that I wasn't watching him. "Sleep alright?" He asks, his question genuine, it seems like he wants to know the answer and isn't just being polite, but his question makes me wonder if there's another reason for him asking. "Yes, thank you, did you have fun guarding?" It looks momentarily shocked but quickly recovers himself. "Yep, let's get straight to business then shall we?" He rubs his hands together; I nod as he takes the seat next to my bed. "I couldn't help overhearing- I know it's a bit clichéd- that you were in a bit of trouble with your uncle about a "mugging gone wrong" and you being unsafe, weren't you?" He says in a mock judge voice seemingly for the purpose of making me laugh, I do as I nod. "Well then, I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that I am not only a mysterious musician, a police sergeant and a biker hero in disguise, but I'm also a professional body guard who was trained with the American armed forces and the British SAS commanders and I am offering up my services to be your body guard so that you may stay in England" I says this sincerely and blushes at the end at his own honesty.


End file.
